Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 529: The Shortsighted County Magistrate

Chapter 529: Chapter 529: The Shortsighted County Magistrate

"Humph, even if I had originally planned to consider your proposal, your escape from prison on your own accord still means you must be punished,"

What the lad said was indeed tempting, and the County Magistrate hadn’t been without consideration.

But if he didn’t vent his anger now, it would just fester inside him forever, perhaps never finding release.

If it were from a superior, it might be tolerable; after all, they were higher up, and one could just bear it.

But this kid, with neither money nor background, relying merely on his brawn and brute force, to think he could lord over him—that simply couldn’t be allowed!

"You won’t consider it, huh? Then there’s no helping it,"

Tian Peng spread his hands helplessly, "If you’d consider my proposal, maybe I would be somewhat lenient with you. If not, then we have no basis for cooperation, and likewise, I have no need to be lenient with you."

The County Magistrate looked at the strong men beside him, then back at Tian Peng. He refused to believe it; he had even treated them to meat before coming here.

If so many men couldn’t handle a mere seventeen-year-old boy, then he might as well yield to the boy’s every whim in the future.

"Don’t listen to him," the County Magistrate said, "With so many of you and just one of him, could it be that ten of you are afraid of him? To speak of it would invite ridicule from everyone."

"Charge! Whoever subdues him, I will personally add five coins to your reward."

Five coins wasn’t much, but given the drought, even that was quite a sum.

Hearing the County Magistrate’s words, the strong men surged forward together.

Tian Peng sneered and met them head-on with his Nine-toothed Rake.

The gang of strong men had only brute strength to rely on.

Tian Peng, however, was different. He had been a proper Military General, trained in tactics. Even if his body had not yet retained the memory, he knew every move in his mind.

He wielded the Nine-toothed Rake like a spear, thrusting and parrying, and even using it as a shield, blocking the charging men before forcefully sweeping it to the side, bringing two heavy-set men crashing down.

Soon, the dozen or so strong men were exhausted and some injured, all collapsed on the ground, groaning.

Picking up his Nine-toothed Rake, Tian Peng walked step by step toward the County Magistrate, "I told you to listen to me and you wouldn’t. Now look what’s happened—you’ve not only lost silver but also gained no advantage. Tell me, what was the point of all this?"

"I, I, I—" the County Magistrate stepped back, finding himself against the fields, and in fear, he turned and attempted to flee, but it was no use. There were too many obstacles in the field; he had not run two steps before stumbling to the ground.

"Spare me, my lord, spare my life!" the County Magistrate quickly pleaded.

"Spare your life?" Tian Peng laughed, "Do you really think I’m that terrible? What do I want with your life?"

"I..." The County Magistrate’s mind whirled and he quickly understood, immediately saying, "I’ll listen to you, I’ll do as you say. I’ll go back and be an upright official, doing what I should."

"You realize this now?" Tian Peng smiled carelessly, "Too bad it’s too late. I don’t plan to let you handle matters anymore."

The County Magistrate paused, looking at Tian Peng, "What, what do you plan to do?"

"I don’t plan to do anything; rest assured, your little life needs to be preserved." Tian Peng smiled, but his eyes lacked any sign of mirth, sending chills down one’s spine.

Seeing Tian Peng’s eyes, the County Magistrate couldn’t believe that he had no intentions and took two steps back.

"If you dare to do something to me, even if so many here can’t defeat you, someone will come to investigate and hold you accountable for your crimes. You kill a member of the County Government Office, and you won’t get off easily!"

"What are you afraid of?" Tian Peng lightly tapped the ground with his Nine-toothed Rake. "I’ve already said I won’t hurt you, so naturally I won’t. Look at how fearful you are, you still serve at the County Government Office. You’d better scurry back to your hometown and suckle from your mother!"

After observing Tian Peng closely and confirming he truly wouldn’t kill him, the officer from the County Government Office quickly scrambled to his feet and ran back the way he came.

The sturdy men remaining on the ground moaned in pain. They too were a bit frightened when they saw Tian Peng approach and hastily begged for mercy, "Hero, spare our lives, please! We were just doing this for money; we really hope you wouldn’t make things difficult for us."

"Rest assured, I know you all are doing this for the money and I don’t plan to make things difficult for you," Tian Peng acknowledged. "Everyone comes from poor families; if not for that small bounty, I suppose you’d disdain to do such things."

The burly men eagerly followed along with Tian Peng’s words, "Exactly, exactly, that’s it. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be willing to do these sorts of things at all."

"With a drought lasting two years and no rain from the heavens, if we didn’t agree to it, how would our families, with both the old and the young, have enough to eat?"

Tian Peng had been waiting for them to say this, so he continued to inquire, "Then what do you all rely on for a living?"

The strong men one by one confessed their occupations to Tian Peng.

"I’m a carpenter."

"I grow vegetables."

"I haul grain."

"A cook."

"If you all have legitimate professions, then how could you stoop to doing such deeds for a bit of silver?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The men looked at each other, their faces heavy with worry.

The leader sighed and said, "These used to be our jobs, but now with the drought, there’s no grain. Naturally, there’s no work for our trades. Staying at home, we have no work, let alone money. We thought of returning to the countryside to farm, but with the drought, farming yields practically nothing."

"So the County Magistrate said there was a bounty to be had from his side, as long as you helped him do his bidding?" Tian Peng could imagine the rest and continued on their behalf.

The strong men nodded their heads.

"I have a job opportunity here, are you willing to take it?" Tian Peng offered.

The men hesitated, then answered uncomfortably, "We really intend to earn an honest living. We wouldn’t do this kind of work if it weren’t for dire need, and besides, it hasn’t turned out well. We really won’t do this again."

Tian Peng smiled, knowing in his heart that these men were quite upright.

Indeed, in this kind of situation, if not for the compulsion of survival, gathering to fight could not be considered an honest living.

"Don’t worry, it’s not about fighting," Tian Peng assured them. "As you said before, it’s an honest living. What I intend to do is exactly that—an honest living!"

"Really?" The men suddenly brightened up at his words.

"Of course," Tian Peng affirmed.

"What kind of work is it?" the men inquired. "And how much silver will we be paid each month?"

At the mention of payment, Tian Peng hesitated. He couldn’t offer them a definitive answer about pay just yet, so he said, "I can’t be sure about that."

"Ah? But..." The men felt uneasy. If even the amount of money they would be paid was uncertain, then they wondered what they were agreeing to.

"Here’s the thing," Tian Peng spoke frankly, "the work I’m offering is originally the government’s responsibility, but as you’ve seen for yourselves, the government is not acting. So I’m thinking of solving the irrigation issue in the fields first. Once that’s taken care of, we can look to the government for our pay."